Over the years we at Snowfish have noted the importance of
KOLs in the ultimate success of a brand.
For example, we conducted research involving over 200 physicians, when
asked specifically what influences their decision on which product to prescribe
or use, after the clinical trial data, the second most important factor was the
opinion of KOLs. Given that
clinical trial data cannot be altered, KOLs and how they are identified, engaged,
and managed is indeed the most important modifiable factor in successful commercial
operations.
The day to day engagement of KOLs has traditionally been handled
by the MSL. Snowfish was interested in
understanding how KOLs view the MSL role.
In order to gain greater insights we reached out to over 50 KOLs
and gained their insights. Not
surprising, they highly value the MSL role as compared to the sales role. In particular they regard the depth and
knowledge a MSL is able to provide along with robustness of a free flowing discussion. In multiple cases they specifically voiced
their preference for engaging with MSLs as compared to a traditional sales call.
Given the importance of KOLs and the importance they assign to the MSL
role we wonder how many companies have fully explored the opportunity to
maximize the efficacy of this important constituency.
Lending to the success of the KOL-MSL relationship is
ensuring adequate time is allowed for meaningful relationship building. This comes in the form of effective territory
development for MSLs. As part of our
core offerings we conduct KOL identification and mapping for life sciences companies
along with directly supporting MSL teams.
We have noted a lack of efficacy when MSL regions are simply an outgrowth
of sales territories. In the example
below from a Snowfish client we were able to identify the top 250 KOLs for the
product and then divide each territory based on four independent factors. The first factor was the top 250 prescribers
located within an MSL region. The second
factor is the grouping of physicians by common address and identifying the top
250 addresses. The third factor is the
grouping of physicians by a common business name. Finally, we then place the top 250 KOLs into
the predefined MSL territories based on the sales regions. 
What becomes instantly apparent is that the sales regions
are not a good method for drawing MSL regions.
For example, Sue in the Mid Central region has only 1/6th the
number of KOLs in her region as compared to Mike in New England. Given that most companies try to assign
somewhere between 30 to 35 KOLs per MSL you can look at the various regions and
see the misallocation of resources.
Granted the importance of KOLs which we’ve documented over
the years, plus the value KOLs assign to the MSL, an integrated and data driven
strategy is critical for maximizing the commercial opportunity. We welcome your comments and thoughts about
this posting. We have also developed
white papers on MSL training and KOL identification & mapping and will be
happy to make them available.
